


Portals Bad

by mearcats



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Bad Matchmaking, Crossover, Established Relationship, Flirting, Jealousy, Magic, Multi, Portals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 02:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7489731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mearcats/pseuds/mearcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma and Killian try to tell some of those Untold Stories. They take a portal and end up separated...and hanging out with a certain slayer and Captain Peroxide. Can Emma and Killian find a way back to each other and to maybe even reunite former flames?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Portals Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Set vaguely post S5 OUAT and post S9 of the Buffy comics. For CS AU week.

Killian glances warily around the area the portal takes them. It’s night here, though the streetlights seem to indicate they’re still in Emma’s modern world. It’s warmer here, and he almost considers taking off his jacket. It also occurs to him that this is a cemetery. **  
**

But bloody hell, where is Emma?

They had come through the portal together but had clearly gotten separated somewhere. He knows they’ll always find each other, but that doesn’t stop the trickle of fear. What if they landed in different realms entirely?

Then he gives a sigh of relief, because he sees a flash of blonde hair, a slim body running toward where the portal just closed. Killian makes his way over to her, ready to pull her close in a hug when he makes a few of those keen observations he’s known for.

This woman’s blonde hair is too straight, just a smidgen too dark. And she’s quite a bit shorter than Emma--this woman maybe comes up to his shoulders.

So instead of embracing her, he taps her lightly and the shoulder. “Er, lass?”

The small woman starts violently and turns around toward him, swinging her arm back. She lands the hit, knocking him much farther than he’d have thought such a tiny woman would be capable of.

Killian has a moment of grim amusement when he hits the floor--that truly seems to the place he’s destined for. He’s fairly certain he’s not concussed. He’ll certainly be bruised, but he only has one gash, so he’ll count it as a win.

The supernaturally strong little hellion runs over to him, apologizing profusely. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I thought you were a vampire or some kind of demon that came through the portal that we figured out opened over here. But you’re human...aren’t you?”

“Aye, lass, I’m definitely human. And bruised. What are you, pray tell? Not even my lady love is strong as you.”

“Oh! Um, I’m the Slayer. So human, but with superpowers?”

“Henry has comical books about superheroes, so rather like that, I suppose. Or like a witch?”

“No, I’m not a witch, but my friend Willow is--she’s the one who felt the opening of the portal. There was a prophecy and everything. So...who’s Henry? And who are you?”

Killian pulls himself to his feet, and the young woman sticks out her hand to assist him. Her eyes land on his left arm and widen almost comically. “Oh my god...are you Captain Hook?”

He winces both at the aches in his back and that his infamy has clearly spread so far. “Aye, though nowadays most people call me Killian Jones,” he says, finish it off with a small bow. No sense not being chivalrous, even to strange little women with herculean strength. “And you are?”

“Buffy. Buffy Summers,” she replies, seeming to scan his face for signs of recognition or mockery. Finding none, she shrugs. “So what brings Captain Hook to California?”

“My girlfriend, Emma, and I took a portal that opened to one of the lands of Untold Stories. We didn’t know exactly where it would lead, but I do recall hearing about this California. This is the United States, correct?”

“Yep. The good old U.S. of A., in the year of our Lord 2013. And where is your Emma?”

He scratches behind his ear. “Ah. I’m not certain. It’s possible the portal may have separated us, though I’m not sure how that’s possible. I thought you were she at first glance, as she also has blonde hair and green eyes. She’s a bit taller, though.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m short. I also seem to have misplaced my...well, my demon-hunting partner disappeared too. We were running over here, and I turned around, and he was just gone. Maybe the same thing happened to him and your girlfriend.”

Killian’s brow furrows in concern. “Will it be difficult to get them back?”

Buffy scrunches her nose in concentration. “I hope not. Willow can probably help more. Would you help me finish looking around here, just in case we missed something?”

“Sure, love,” he replies, noticing the wistful look on her face at the casual endearment. “What does your gentleman friend look like, so I can keep an eye out for him as well?”

She bites back a smile. “He’s kinda hard to miss. A little shorter than you, white blond hair, blue eyes, cheekbones that could cut glass, and a long black leather coat. Answers to Spike or William, if I’m the one doing the talking.”

He eyes her a little uncertainly. “Er, have you noticed the striking similarities between us and the people we’re looking for? You and Emma certainly have some similarities, and it sounds like your beau and I do too. White blond hair excluded of course.”

“Oh--Spike’s not my beau. But yeah, I see what you’re saying. I’m not finding anything here. Not even a clue or strand of blonde hair.”

Killian glances over at Buffy and sees the concern and frustration on her face. She leads him back to the house where she lives with her witch friend, and he can’t refrain from asking her a question. “This Spike fellow...if he’s as like me as his description sounds, then he’s dashingly handsome. And you obviously care about him, so why isn’t he your lover?”

Buffy turns red, fumbling over her words. “I-he-that is, we used to be--but now we’re not mixy...not like that anyway. And I don’t know if-maybe he doesn’t want-”

Killian cuts her off to spare her further awkwardness. “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable, lass. But you seem like a good sort, so unless he’s an idiot, I can’t see him not wanting you,” he tells her gently. He remembers well the missing year and the short time afterward before he and Emma got together, with its pining and confusion.

Her smile is a bit strained. “It’s no big. I’m just not sure what’s going on. We’re friends and we’ve worked out a lot of our painful issues, so if nothing else, there’s that. And that’s enough.”

“I understand. Emma and I were just friends for some time, and while I wanted more, the other would have been enough.”

“Well, we’re here!” Opening the door, Buffy gestures for him to go ahead. He does so, alert and aware of his surroundings in spite of the trust this slayer inspires so readily.

“Hey, Will! Is Spike here? With a blonde woman? We may have a situation.”

A thin redhead descends from the floor above. “Oh, like in a date-y way? Did something happen to the portal? I was sure it was going to open at the entrance to--oh, who are you?”

“Willow Rosenberg, major league witch, this is Killian Jones, otherwise known as Captain Hook,” Buffy pronounced, fighting off a grin.

“A pleasure, my lady,” Killian purrs, lifting the witch’s hand to press a light kiss to it. He might be a taken man, but there’s no harm in a little flirting and getting on a powerful woman’s good side.

Willow smirks at him for a moment, then directs her question to both of them. “So what’s this about the portal? And how did we get the charming Captain Hook instead of Spike?”

“I got to the portal and he was the one there. No demons, nada. And at some point both Spike and Killian’s girlfriend Emma disappeared.”

Killian just nods his agreement with Buffy’s assessment. Then he remembered one more thing. “Actually, I haven’t seen Emma since we entered the portal in Storybrooke, Maine. She may have been gone before the portal connected.” He tries to keep the worry out of his voice, but he clearly doesn’t succeed entirely, because Willow looks at him more sympathetically than she did a few moments before.

“Hmm, I’ll see what I can find out. Just so we’re all on the same page, the prophecy said there would be a portal, and that the souled vampire and the blond warrior woman would fight against forces of evil. But back to the spell--I know Xander has some of Spike’s things next door in case I need to do a locator spell. Um, Killian, was it? Do you have any of Emma’s things we could use to track her?”

He frowns for a second and then brightens, remembering the picture of herself she had slipped into his wallet a few weeks before. If that doesn’t work, he’s stuck using their house key, and he doesn’t think she’d approve. He hands over the picture a bit reluctantly. “Will I be able to get that back? It just means a lot to me.”

Willow pats him gently on the hand. “This shouldn’t mess it up. If we have to bring them back from another dimension, that might be a different story, but finding them won’t consume that kind of energy.”

“Do you need help getting any supplies together, Will?” Buffy asks.

“No, I’ve got everything I need here, but would you mind calling Aine? I’d be more comfortable having another witch around in case things get extra demon-y.”

“So it has nothing to do with Aine’s big brown eyes and long legs then? Because I think you mentioned how comfortable they made you feel last week--” Buffy’s teasing is interrupted when Willow lightly smacks her arm.

“Hush, you. I’m trying to find your vampire and his girl. I can save my lusty wrong feelings for later if can just wait on the teasing. Until after Aine leaves, preferably.”

Buffy just smirks and goes to call the other witch.

Understanding dawns on Killian and he grins. “Is there anything I need to do, or shall I also stay away from this Miss Aine when she arrives?”  He pauses for a moment. “And this Spike is a vampire?” What little knowledge he has of vampires comes from the stories Emma has told him and from movies Henry and Belle have made him watch. The lot of them seem largely villainous or sparkly, but he knows better than to make snap judgments of creatures.

Willow blushes prettily, muttering about how she can’t catch a break. Finally, she shakes her head. “Nah, we should be fine. But you should stay, so you know what’s going on if something’s…and yeah, Spike is a vampire.”

He knows she’s about to say “if something goes wrong,” but he can’t acknowledge that. After all he and Emma have been through, he’s not going to let some stupid portal be the thing that hurts them. He sits down on the couch, tapping a foot impatiently as he waits.

\---

It’s less than an hour later before Killian is at a table with Buffy, Willow, Aine, and two others he’s met, Dawn and Xander. Willow is looking at a map and calling on her magics, Aine supporting her, when she frowns and tilts her head. “Huh?”

“What is it, Willow?” Dawn asks eagerly. (Killian has learned that she is Buffy’s sister and Xander’s ex-girlfriend. He really has learned a lot about this entire group very quickly. Xander has thus far proven quite chatty.)

“Apparently two portals opened up around the same time. Well, one is a true portal--that would be the one you came through, Killian--and the other is a sort of pocket dimension controlled by someone who can summon and eject people from it. It looks like Emma arrived here and got sucked into the pocket dimension along with Spike.”

He and Buffy speak almost in unison. “How can we retrieve them?”

“Can we get them back?”

Willow looks at the map and the glow of the magic before her. “Um, it looks like they already came back. But to a place a couple miles from Killian’s and Emma’s portal.”

Xander leans back in his chair. “Far be it from me to express concern for my bleached roommate, but then where are they?”

“Um, we could do another kind of tracking spell. Ooh, or we could track the GPS on Spike’s phone!”

Buffy is clearly aghast. “Willow are you tracking all of our phones?”

“...Maybe? But is now really the time for that?”

Buffy looks ready to squawk back at her friend, when they hear the door below slamming and two voices making their way into the kitchen.

Killian stands up, and he can’t help but notice Buffy does the same. Emma comes into the room, followed by the man who is presumably Spike. Quite frankly, Killian doesn’t care if it’s the vampire or Zeus himself, because Emma is throwing herself into his arms and pressing her lips to his.

Their urgent kisses go on for a while, until one of the others in the room clears their throat. Killian reluctantly pulls away, stroking Emma’s hair lightly. “Love, what happened? Are you okay? And your jacket-”

Emma cuts him off with another quick kiss. “Calm down, Killian. We’re both fine, just got a bit dinged up in the fight we were in. I can buy another jacket.”

He loops an arm around her waist and turns to face the rest of the group. Buffy isn’t touching Spike, but she’s running her eyes over him, carefully cataloguing any injuries. Other than a couple of gashes that look a few days old, the other man--vampire--looks to be well. He’s staring back at Buffy affectionately.

Willow asks, “So what happened? Where you guys in a pocket dimension? What was it like? Why did it call you two instead of-”

“Whoa, Will, let them have a few minutes. Can I get you guys drinks or anything?” Xander looks between Spike and Emma.

Spike requests a bag of blood and Emma a water, though she gladly takes his flask when he offers it to her. She leans into Killian, then looks over at Spike and nods.

Spike finally speaks, “Well, as Red here pointed out, it was a pocket dimension. Seems the prophecy was a tricky little bugger, as they usually are. There was a portal, which brought Mr. Jones and the lovely, capable Miss Swan here. And then there were the forces of evil, which were in the pocket dimension.”

“Forces of evil? Again?” Buffy asks impatiently, and Killian snorts. “But why did you and Emma end up fighting it?”

“It looks like the warlock controlling the pocket dimension was trying to summon you and Spike, Buffy. But instead of summoning you two by name, he called the ‘obnoxious ensouled vampire with blinding hair’ and ‘that blonde warrior woman who keeps saving people,’” Emma interjects with a small smile.

Spike winks at Emma, and Killian growls possessively and pulls her closer. Buffy’s mouth tightens, too.

Willow shakes her head scornfully. “This is what the forces of darkness get for not being specific. I mean, I know linguistic determinants of magic aren’t everyone’s forte, but an experienced warlock should know better than to be vague like that. We know at least one other obnoxious ensouled vampire, and I’m sure there are lots of blonde women warriors who save people. Not to diminish yours and Buffy’s accomplishments, Emma.”

“Yeah, we really wish those wacky evil guys would get it together more. No respect at all anymore for a good, specific hex that’ll hurt the bejeezus out of whoever you’re actually targeting.”

Aine shakes her head in amusement, her voice low and clear as she asks, “So you all fought these forces of evil? And won?”

Spike and Emma exchange another look. “That we did, Aine. There were all sorts of baddies to fight, and then Emma here apparently freed the slave race being held captive in the pocket dimension.”

Emma blushes and is about to speak when Dawn steps in eagerly. “What kind of demons? Were the slaves demons too?”

Buffy nudges her sister with her hip. “All right, mini-Giles. Maybe we can talk specifics later after everyone has rested. Is there anything else we need to do right now?”

“Nope, Slayer. By beating the demons and freeing the other group, we destabilized the warlock’s powers. That bugger Cole over on 15th, it was. We stopped over there and made sure he was taken care of before coming back here.”

Emma hurriedly interrupts before anyone can ask further questions. “And by ‘take care of’, Spike here means we turned him over to your buddy on the police force. I was able to hold him with my magic until Dowling got there.”

Willow’s and Aine’s eyes snap toward Emma eagerly, “You’re a witch, too?!”

Emma nods tiredly, relaxing into Killian’s arms even further. He feels some of the tension (and his jealousy) melt away at her small, subconscious search for his touch.

Killian clears his throat. “Not to be too much of a bother, and I know we have more to discuss, but how can Emma and I get back home?”

Buffy confers briefly with Dawn and Willow. “We’ll get you guys a plane ticket--courtesy of the Watchers’ Council--as soon as we can. You can stay in my room tonight, and I’ll crash on the couch.”

Emma and Killian thank them gratefully, ready to shower and go to bed after an exhausting day--or days, in Emma’s and Spike’s case, as time passed differently in the pocket dimension.

They’re about to head upstairs, having been handed towels and told where things are, when Dawn pipes up again. “Wait, before you all go to bed, how did you get here? From where the pocket dimension let you out? It’s almost ten miles.”

Emma blushes and Spike ducks his head. “Well, Niblet, there may have been a small spot of vehicular theft…”

“But we’ll take the car back! I’m a cop! And besides, I made sure Spike didn’t break the steering column. I just hot-wired it…” Emma’s voice trails off as she realizes that everyone is staring at her, with emotions ranging from shocked horror (Aine) to blazing admiration (Killian).

Xander laughs, breaking the tension. Soon, everyone else is giggling too.

\---

Once they’ve showered, Emma and Killian lie in bed together in each other’s arms. He strokes her hair, and she runs a hand down his bare chest.

“So, love, how was it working with this Spike fellow? You two seemed to get along.” He tries, he really does, to keep the insecurity from his voice. He isn’t sure he succeeds.

Emma pushes up onto one elbow so that she can see his face. “Killian, I love you. And no guy with bleached hair is going to come between us, even if he does wear eyeliner too,” she teases. “In all seriousness, it was fine? He’s a good fighter, and we got along just fine after we punched each other in the face when we were trying to figure out what was going on. But it’s not the same as working with you. You...get me.”

“Do I?” he asks, waggling his eyebrows lasciviously.

She lightly swats his arm. “Yes, you wonderful man. In every way,” she paused before continuing, “though not in that way right now, because we’re guests in someone else’s bed, and I’m really tired.”

Killian laughs. “I’m rather tired myself, and it would indeed be bad form to use Miss Summer’s bed in such a way. I was just having a moment of...unease, I suppose.”

“Well, you don’t need to. Even if you weren’t my True Love, capital letters and all...Spike is so in love with Buffy I’m not sure he really remembers that other women exist. It’s kind of like you flirting with other people, just a way of interacting.” She smiles and extends one finger to lovingly trace his cheeks.

He smiles back at her, turning his head to press kisses to her fingertips. “Aye, I am familiar with that.” His face grows serious as he concentrates. “Buffy confessed that she still carries a torch for him too. I wonder if we could…”

“No, we are not going to interfere in their love lives. We do not have the kind of skills to pull that off. Besides, Spike told me about some of the stuff in their past, and it’s a lot. They need to work through it organically.”

“I suppose. I just feel bad, knowing that they both care. I only knew Buffy for three hours to your three days of being around Spike, but it just...I get to hold you in my arms at the end of a treacherous day, and they don’t get that comfort.”

“I know. But they have to figure it out themselves.” She kisses him, and he nods in agreement, and they both drift off to sleep.

\---

It takes two more days to finish figuring out exactly what happened, to notify the proper authorities, return the car Emma and Spike stole, and to book a flight back to Maine. Killian and Emma stay in a hotel the next couple of nights, but continue to spend time with the Scoobies (as they learn the group calls themselves).

Emma talks about the portals to worlds of Untold Stories, how she thinks helping the people trapped in the pocket dimension return home to their own world helps. When she calls Henry, he tells her about the story he received the inspiration to write, how he thinks he can help close that chapter.

But Killian wonders if there isn’t another story still needing to be told. Emma reassures him that she thinks things will work out with Buffy and Spike, smiling as she sees them in close conversation, heads touching as talk.

As they drive off the airport, Killian and Emma glance up at the fire escape and see Spike and Buffy holding hands, lost in their own private world. And Killian thinks that maybe this was one of their better adventures after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you all think!


End file.
